Illegal biomedical lab found in California

In a chilling revelation that has sent shockwaves through the medical community, law enforcement authorities in Fresno, California, have concluded a month-long investigation into an illegal biomedical facility. Hidden away in a remote warehouse, this facility, operated by the shadowy entity Prestige Biotech, was not only operating without a license or regulation but also engaging in alarming and unethical practices.

The rural warehouse that housed this illegal biomedical facility was the epicenter of a dark operation that exploited both ethics and regulations. The month-long investigation revealed a facility that was operating as a defunct diagnostics lab. Within its walls, hundreds of lab mice had been genetically modified to not only contract but also transmit COVID-19. They were kept in poor conditions, many without food or water. When authorities entered the warehouse they found 180 dead and had to euthanize almost 700.

Inside the deep freezers of the facility lay an inventory of infectious agents: HIV, COVID-19, rubella, and malaria. There were also rooms filled with unlabeled medical waste, including blood, tissue, and fluids.

Prestige Biotech, the enigmatic entity behind this nightmare, was operating unlicensed and unregulated. Their activities included the development and distribution of counterfeit pregnancy and COVID-19 tests. The business addresses traced back to empty offices in China, further underscoring the labyrinthine nature of their illicit operation.

Podcast logo draft

 Check out this sneak peek by Agent Redacted! 

Astral Projection

 Throughout history, people from all cultures have reported out of body experiences (OOBE) or a feeling of being dissociated from the physical body, even so far as to see yourself drifting above your body. It's estimated that 5 to 10% of the population has at one point had this experience, usually under anesthesia or near-death or in the form of sleep paralysis. There are also those who can have OOBE at will. 

Now scientists believe they found a way to mimic these experiences by sending electronic pulses to a specific part of the brain. The anterior precuneus lies in the front folds of the human brain and likely holds a person sense of physical self. In a study of patients with epilepsy, scientists found that stimulating this area creates a feeling of free fall or floating. Scientists found brainwave activity similar to when a patient was given ketamine treatment. In addition, patients reported they felt like they had taken psychedelic drugs. While not a true OOBE the study may provide insight into why and how the sensations are created.

One interesting question is do people who can perform astral projection control this part of their brain or is it truly an extraphysical experience? In other words, the projection of consciousness could be a function of chemistry, taking place internally, or alternatively it may be the act of the consciousness traveling to an alternative dimension. From the perspective of a psychiatrist, these OOBE are dysfunctions at the brain due to trauma, disorders, or drugs. But one argument in favor of extraphysical experiences is that people who have OOBE are often aware of events beyond their actual perspective. For example, a patient in cardiac distress may see themselves being resuscitated. 

Spontaneous OOBE often occurs at times of stress when a fear response has been triggered. The typical fight or flight response is amplified, perhaps to an unprecedented amount, in times of mortal peril - which isn't something that can be duplicated in a scientific study. Thus the evidence is mostly anecdotal. That doesn't make it any less compelling.

For more thorough explanation of astral projection and OOBE tune into an old episode where agent Kruger describes his own personal near death experience (click for link)

Vampire Skeleton Found

The Institute of Archeology at Nicolaus Copernicus University announced they had found the skeleton remains of a female "vampire". The 17th century grave was dug up near the small village of Pien in Poland. The skeleton has a sickle across it's neck and a triangular padlock on one big toe. The sickle was placed in such a way that it would be impossible to escape decapitation should the corpse try to rise from the dead. The padlock symbolizes the impossibility of returning to that stage of life. Or afterlife as the case may be.

The woman was also wearing a silk headdress woven with gold or silver, indicating a high social status. Her death may have been untimely or a suicide, causing the villagers to suspect vampirism. The sickle is also used to counter black magic and witchcraft so there is also the possibility she was practicing one or the other. Researchers hope DNA testing will provide additional details.

Tune in here for our episode on vampires.

Strange News - from the deep

Recently, a group of student divers near Taiwanese shores were surprised by a monster of an oarfish (regalecus glesne). The giant reflective silver-orange fish is usually found 200-1000 feet below surface but also can live as deep as 3,000 feet. It can grow up to 36 ft long and weighs several hundred pounds. It is the longest bony fish in the world.

Known in Japanese folklore as the "messenger from the Sea God's Palace", it is a harbinger of Doom appearing before natural disasters, specifically earthquakes. In 2011, right before the Fukushima earthquake 20 carcasses washed up to shore nearby. In 2017 before a 6.6 magnitude earthquake, there were also reported signings. 

In other news, a rare Pacu fish from South America was found by Charlie Clinton in a neighborhood pond in Oklahoma on July 15th. This distant relative of the piranha has strangely human-like teeth. It can grow up to 1 m long and weigh up to 40 kg.

In the great lakes area there have been reports of a vampire rayfish. The sea lamprey (petromyzon maronus) goes around randomly taking bites from its neighbors leaving behind circular wounds and scars. The sea lamprey has a slimy body, seven gill openings, and a round mouth with curved razor-like teeth. This extremely destructive fish is causing a headache for local fishermen and wildlife control. 

Where do enlightened fish live? In the conspirasea.

Project Breakthrough Listen

A week ago the SETI institute gave a presentation on YouTube about a recent publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Frank Marchis interviewed Vishal Gajjar regarding a new method in project Breakthrough Listen. The project searches for technosignatures coming from extraterrestrial origins. These may be signs of technology that are alien in nature. Historically, the institute has used a very narrow frequency channel to define their parameters. Now they are looking for something nature doesn't produce, a train of engineered repeating pulses.

Like us, we can expect that aliens may have leakage from ordinary technology, but they may also have launched a transmitter into space for the purposes of communicating with us. A good place for them to put it would be the center of the Milky Way galaxy because it's somewhere both parties know where to look. Also, the stars are older there and there are billions of them with a large number of planets so it's a good shelling point to increase the chances of detecting something.

Currently the project is using the Green Bank telescope in West Virginia. It is 100 m in diameter and operates anywhere between 1 GHz and 100 GHz. The team has about 20% time dedicated to the project, which is a really decent amount. For the recent publication the data included the survey of half a million stars in a 4.5 hour period. So far their total observation time is 25 hours. 

No signal has been found, but this is a first attempt and researchers are not discouraged. This is a major breakthrough in the search for extra terrestrial intelligence and the first of its kind in SETIs 60 year history. Credit goes to the graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, Bryan Brzycki, who developed the algorithm. 

Tune in here for our episode on SETI.

Colorado Cryptid

As far back as 1920, there are reports of a fearsome cryptid lurking in the Colorado mountains, the slide-rock bolter. The creature has a large head, small eyes, and a gaping mouth with razor-sharp teeth. The tail is dolphin-like but with hooks to help it latch onto mountain crests and ridges where it sits downwards at a 45° angle. The creature is 100 ft long and weighs 250 tons.

The slide-rock bolter or macrostoma saxiperrumptus, takes out anyone who ventures into its territory. After an attack it climbs back up with its hooked tail. This cryptid eats anything in its path including large forest animals and tourists. Luckily it only needs to eat about once a month or so. Local rumor has it that it eats up to 10 tourists per year. 

Although there haven't been any confirmed recent sightings, you can tell that the mountain whale has been around because it razes entire forest areas, pulling trees out by the roots or cutting them clean down. 

In the small town of Rio locals speak of the destruction caused by a forest ranger who decided to take one of these creatures out. He placed a dummy tourist dressed in clothing and filled with gunpowder at the foot of a hill. The resulting explosion flattened half the buildings in Rio. (Although skeptics say that Rio simply fell into disrepair after a silver bust caused an economic shift.)

Some think the slide-rock bolter has evolved to become more rock -like and lies dormant, biding its time. Others claim that the story comes from environmentalist Mr. William Thomas Cox, a state forester who published a book in 1910 describing the fearsome critter, but that he was simply trying to scare off loggers. 

So is this an urban legend or a unique and rare cryptid?